Philosophy as Fiction

Is it possible (or desirable) to live without illusions? Can artistry assist in the project of forging a unified self? What does our use of metaphor have to do with who we are? In this groundbreaking study, Joshua Landy explores Proust's original and sophisticated answers to these and related questions. At the same time, he asks why Proust chose to embed his theories within a work of fiction-one, indeed, in which the narrator's claims cannot always be trusted-rather than a straightforward treatise. What we stand to gain, it turns out, from reading Proust's philosophical narrative is something far more than a new way of thinking: it is also, and more importantly, a new way of living. Provocative and illuminating, Philosophy as Fiction will transform the way we think about the relationship between philosophy, literature, and life.